New Media: Are you blogging yet?

published June - July 2006

In December 2004 we introduced you to Blogs. In February this year blogs came to the fore when we ran an article Challenges for Communicators in 2006 where we noted that blogs were shifting some of the power back to the consumer.

This issue we examine some of the latest blog research and give you some practical tips for getting your blog up and running.

A Refresher - What is a Blog?

Blog is short for weblog. A weblog is a journal (or newsletter) that is frequently updated and intended for general public consumption. Blogs generally represent the personality of the author or the Web site.

What is research telling us about Blogging?

Market research firm ComScoreMedia Metrix recently examined visitor growth rates among the 50 top web sites. Top ranked sites growing the most included www.blogger.com a personal publishing site owned by Google and www.myspace.com where youth share musical tastes. 

In addition, PQ Media recently found that marketing spend on blogs, podcasts and rss feeds is forecast to grow at a compound annual rate of 106.1 giving further weight to the rise and rise of blogging.

But what about the Public relations community how are we faring? Are we involved in blogging yet?

A recent study by US based PR News/MediaLink of 459 PR practitioners found that:

• only 18% have created and managed a blog for their company or client
• 21% have communicated news via a blog.
• Those that did blog themselves did so mainly for consumer and business news followed by new product announcements, and health news.

So as a community our blog uptake is relatively low you could hardly categorise us as “Early Adopters”.  So let’s get started.

10 Tips for Successful Blogging

• Express goodwill
• Be passionate about what you do or discuss
• Show thought leadership and integrity
• Do a trial blog first. You need to start somewhere to get used to the technology
• Link back to your own website to drive traffic there
• Read a variety of blogs to see the best (we provide you with a list below)
• Define the blog’s purpose from the beginning
• Blog regularly and be prepared to set aside time for it
• Accept criticism and controversy as part of the conversation
• Be an expert in your field - show authority

Still not sure if you want to blog yet?

You can still position yourself as an authority and draw traffic to your website by posting comments on other blogs. Be sure to include your website URL to drive traffic into your area of business. Remember you can still be part of the digital conversation!

Note: The author of this article is a Sydney based senior independent corporate PR consultant who works exclusively with PR Managers helping them with management of the PR Department or their relationship with their PR agency. In addition he provides specialist corporate PR and communications advice where issues or change are impacting on an organisation. He also blogs regularly on PR and communications topics similar to those in this article.